Posts by Marlboro Man

Marlboro Man’s a cattle rancher, and he loves talking about agriculture. If you’ve ever been interested in learning more about a working cattle ranch, the cattle industry, what distinguishes a steer from a heifer, why we don’t artificially inseminate, and pretty much anything else related to the business of bovines, browse the lists of posts he’s written here. I’ve been married to him for years…and I still learn something new every time I read one.

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Marlboro Man and I went on a hike up the mountain when we were in Vail last week. I took this same hike last summer, only it was with my sister-in-law Missy and our kids. You can read about it here. I pretty much thought I would die on the mountain. Hiking up the mountain with Marlboro Man [...] Keep Reading

On the ranch this time of year, a tractor is used for lifting and loading massive bales of hay. But it has another use, too. I’ll just go ahead and let these photos speak for themselves. Not that I’d be able to [...] Keep Reading

As part of the “Throwback Thursday” tradition on the World Wide Web, I posted this photo on my Facebook and Instagram pages this morning. I’ve always, always loved this photo. Little did I know the beast that would be awakened. I have now spent the last hour of my life [...] Keep Reading

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend! We had a great one: My brother Mike came over on Saturday, drove my car all over the ranch, helped the kids fill Easter eggs for the hunt at church, watched a couple of episodes of Cops, spent the night, and went to church with us yesterday [...] Keep Reading

I’m writing this while on a plane with Marlboro Man. He, Todd and I are heading to Chicago for the weekend. Since he is my captive, I decided to interrogate him and post his answers here. I love it when he can’t escape me. Move a little closer, please. (Moves a little [...] Keep Reading

Manly. Yup. Adventurous. Totally. Rugged. You bet. Lionhearted. Yes. Brawny. It was either this or Beefy. Observant. He takes in his surroundings. Rad. Sorry. Throwback to my L.A. days. Outstanding. As in “outstanding in his field.” (Get it? Ha.) Multifaceted. He loves [...] Keep Reading

Last week, a couple of days before 2015, Marlboro Man, Tim, and all the kids had to work some cattle. It was cold and Marlboro Man had a couple of other things to do to get ready for the working, so they got to have a nice, late start. Todd likes [...] Keep Reading

I made a passing reference last week to a gift I’d gotten Marlboro Man that began with the letter “C.” Many of you put forth many different guesses (and at least one of you got it right!) Now that Christmas is over and surprises are all out in the open, I thought [...] Keep Reading

Thank you, Marlboro Man. It’s nice for normal people of average strength (i.e. me) to see that someone who can wrestle steers to the ground without even blinking… Who can ride across the pasture on a horse at lightning speed… [...] Keep Reading

By Marlboro Man. Yesterday we gathered a pasture of 300 heifers. I love sneaking up on them in the morning. This heifer had no idea I was anywhere around when I rode up on her. She ran off down the hill and spooked her buddies. Of course, it was a cool morning [...] Keep Reading

Today is my beloved’s birthday, which means: 1. He is now my age again after two fun-filled weeks of me enjoying my status as the older woman. 2. I am trying desperately to narrow down what I’m going to cook for him for dinner tonight. The stakes are enormous!!!!! And so are [...] Keep Reading

When the cowboys and kids gather cattle on horseback, there’s usually a sook truck to help move the process along. (“Sooking” is the act of calling/summoning cattle.) A sook truck is nothing more than a regular feed truck, but when it’s used in conjunction with [...] Keep Reading

My husband and his brother Tim grew up on the ranch. They had another brother named Todd. He was the oldest. My husband and his brother Tim were 18 months apart. But they were both closer to Todd than to each other. Marlboro Man loved Todd because he was his much-older brother. Tim loved [...] Keep Reading

The answer to any question anyone asks me this week is 4:15. What did you do today, Ree? 4:15. How are you, Marlboro Man, and the kids doing? 4:15. How’s your summer going? 4:15. Can you bring a snack to Cookie Sunday? 4:15. How do you feel about the global climate shift? 4:15. [...] Keep Reading

I need to be in Austin, Texas this weekend. I was going to drive the eight hours by myself and meet Betsy and my mom there, but Marlboro Man didn’t want me to drive into the big, cruel world alone. So he and the boys loaded up with me at dark-thirty this morning and came along. This [...] Keep Reading

We’re smack-dab in the middle of one of the busiest times of the year here on the ranch. We’ve gotten up before five every morning this week, and the days have been very, very long. In the cracks (I said cracks. Huh huh.) I’m trying to get my garden planted, our roof [...] Keep Reading

Note from PW: Thank you guys for celebrating Anniversary Week with me all week. It’s been a great seven years! Thanks, also, for sending along your questions for MM and for me. My beloved is answering today, and I’ll post a bunch of answers next week. Take it away, Marlboro [...] Keep Reading

In case you woke up feeling down, blah, itchy, twitchy, glum, blue, doleful, downcast, forlorn, morose or gloomy… I thought a bunny in a pair of work gloves would cheer you up. Or, if the bunny doesn’t do the trick, maybe the muscle in [...] Keep Reading

When I transferred some recent photos from my camera to my computer, I found a small handful of shots Marlboro Man had snapped while he was feeding. I love finding these little treasures; I didn’t even know he’d taken the camera that day, so it was a nice surprise. I also love [...] Keep Reading

Caution: This is a very, very long story. But I have to get a few things out. Thank you for your patience and understanding through this difficult time. I can’t adequately describe what a great time I’ve had over the past week. Everything I loved about last year’s [...] Keep Reading